James De La Rosa Victorious At Mayhem

The biggest fight of James De La Rosa’s career came as the opening fight of the Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana 2 card. Set to take on power puncher, Alfredo Angulo, De La Rosa knew he was going to have to use his speed and quickness, to outbox “El Perro”.

The first half of the fight was just that. In the large ring, De La Rosa was on his bicycle, using footwork and counter punching to confuse Angulo. The second round was the best round for De La Rosa. He would land a double left hook that sent Angula to the canvas. He was only able to stay standing because he held the ropes.

Continuing to use footwork and switching from orthodox to southpaw, De La Rosa continued to outbox Angulo. It was now inside the last minute of the rounds where De La Rosa would start to rest, it would seem. Angulo would at times work for shots, but it wasn’t until the last couple rounds, where he would need a knockout, would he start to work.

Between rounds 8 and 9, the ref threatened to stop the fight if Angulo didn’t defend himself better. Also, Angulo’s trainer, Virgil Hill, exclaimed to Angulo that he needed a knockout to win the fight. “If you don’t knock him out, your career is over.”

In the last two rounds, Angulo picked up the pace after almost being a punching bag for 8 rounds, and landed the big left hook that he is known for. De La Rosa was hurt, but never went down. James De La Rosa earned the win via unanimous decision (98-90, 96-92, 99-89).

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